James 5,13-16 4923
19. Trinitatis 66
Teresa of Avila, Spain. Virgin ✠ 1582
15. Oktober 2023
1. ℣ Say unto my soul, I am thy Salvation:
℟ The righteous cry, and Yahweh heareth (Psalm 35,3b; 34,17a).
O Yahweh, Thou hearest those who call upon Thee; may our prayers be as incense before You, so that our petitions are pleasing to Your ears and gracious Your response. Amen. (Psalm 141,1-2 Gradual)
2. »Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great strength as it is working [Genesis 20,17; Psalm 34,15].« [1]
3. Prayer is an important duty in our Christian life. Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, lists the 10 Commandments, Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed among the chief parts of Christianity. 1st century Judaism had liturgies for morning, and evening prayers; Christianity did as well, which became our Matins and Vespers.
4. In his epistle, James exhorts Christians to pray, and he implores us to pray for the sick and the repentant. This is from the mouth and quill of James, a younger brother of Jesus. James, Peter and John bar-Zebedee where the three pillars of the mother church in Jerusalem—together they are 1 bishop and 2 apostles who personally knew Christ our Lord. James speaks with episcopal authority grounded Christological wisdom and piety. A Christian prayer is a prayer of faith which fears, loves and trust in the Triune God.
5. The current bishop of the successor of the Jerusalem church is Patriarch Theophilos III; most of the 130,000 Christians under his spiritual care are Palestinian; an additional 70,000 Palestinian Christians are in Lutheran or Protestant (elcjhl.org). About 3000 Palestinian Christians live in Gaza, 6600 in the West Bank and 150,000 in Israel.
6. King David writes in Psalm 122: »Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!« (122,6-7). We pray for Israel and the Israelis who have suffered horrible tragedies by the hand of Hamas. We pray for security, peace and justice to prevail. We pray that the innocent will be spared.
7. Jesus teaches in His Beatitudes: »Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. You have heard that it was said: You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust« (Matthew 5,43-45). To pray for the peace of Jerusalem is to also pray for oppressors, adversaries and even our enemies. We pray for the end of hostilities and barbaric acts. We pray for peace and concord. We pray that love and charity prevail and heal old animosities.
8. Jesus once prayed a lament for Jerusalem: »O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the Prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again, until you say: ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.’« (Matthew 23,37-39). Jesus lamented that many of His own people rejected Him as their Messiah. We lament even to this day for all who reject their promised Messiah, for all Gentiles who reject Christ and we pray that they would hear the gospel and believe in Jesus.
9. Jerusalem represented the nation of Israel; it was the capital for the Davidic dynasty. Even more important was the temple in Jerusalem, for that was were sin was forgiven through the sacrifices. Furthermore, the ark of the covenant resided in the temple; it was where the glory of God dwelt and where His mercy was present. Jesus fulfilled all of these— Jerusalem, the temple sacrifices and the ark—with His vicarious sacrifice on the cross. Jesus represented all Israel, the temple with its sacrifices and the mercy seat of God. Jesus compared His body to the temple, saying: »Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up« (John 2,19). Jerusalem and the temple delivered Christ to the people; when Jesus arrived, He fulfilled them by delivering Himself to the people. To pray for the peace of Jerusalem in the Old Testament was to pray for the advent of the Messiah; to pray for the peace of Jerusalem today in the New Testament is to pray for all people to receive and believe Jesus as the Messiah and Christ.
10. We all memorized the Lord’s Prayer. Martin Luther writes in his Small Catechism: God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the Devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will. During times of warfare and atrocity, we can also simply pray: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison, imploring Jesus to show mercy, protect the innocent, punish the evil-doer, and bring peace and concord to all sides. [2]
11. Heavenly Father, God of all concord, it is Your gracious will that Your children on earth live together in harmony and peace. Defeat the plans of all those who would stir up violence and strife, destroy the weapons of those who delight in war and bloodshed and, according to Your will, end all conflicts in the world. Teach us to examine our hearts that we may recognize our own inclination toward envy, malice, hatred and enmity. Help us, by Your Word and Spirit, to search our hearts and to root out the evil that would lead to strife and discord, so that in our lives we may be at peace with all people. Fill us with zeal for the work of Your Church and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone can bring that peace which is beyond all understanding (229) (lsb 314).
12. I know, You are the Font of grace
And the eternal Source,
From which early and late
Much merciful kindness streams forth.
(Ich singe dir mit Herz und Mund selk 581,2 2021 Paul Gerhardt 1653)
This is most certainly true.
13. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.
14. Let us pray. O God, Thou who art the Strength of the weak, the Refuge of the distressed, the Comforter of the sorrowful, we pray Thee to have compassion on those who are worn with toil; to bless and support all aged persons; to defend and bless all little children; to protect all who travel by land, sea, air or space; to comfort all who are suffering in body or in mind; to extend Thy mercy to all who are oppressed, especially those who are „persecuted, for righteousness’ sake“; to deliver the tempted, and to bring back all who have wandered from Thy way; hear us, O heavenly Father, on behalf of all men. Amen. (19. Trinity, Vespers Collect 2b. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover.
1 »Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.«
»The eyes of Yahweh are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. When the righteous cry for help, Yahweh hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.«
2 Ethiopian civil war, Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Gaza.
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